Sy. Hill et al., Developmental changes in postural sway in children at high and low risk for developing alcohol-related disorders, BIOL PSYCHI, 47(6), 2000, pp. 501-511
Background: To utilize the power of latent growth analysis to evaluate chan
ges in postural sway during development in children who are either at high
or low risk for developing alcoholism.
Methods: A total of 629 assessments of postural sway have been performed in
children and adolescents tn = 126) who were evaluated annually over a 7-ye
ar period.
Results: Latent curve models indicated that these children/adolescents show
a linear decrease in sway with age. Moreover, significantly different rate
s of change in the amount of sway between high- and low-risk offspring were
seen. With the exception of one of the four stances tested, high-risk boys
consistently showed a slower rate of improvement with respect to the amoun
t of sway exhibited compared to low-risk boys. In girls, similar rates of i
mprovement with age were seen in high- and low-risk individuals, though in
one stance the high-risk girls showed a deterioration (greater sway with in
creasing age).
Conclusions: Previous reports of increased postural sway in high-risk offsp
ring most likely reflect a developmental delay thigh-risk children have gre
ater sway than is appropriate for their age based on normative values by ag
e). (C) 2000 Society of Biological Psychiatry.